Pokemon Go lifts up the hood and Snapchat's app-installs are a hit

Online advertising and marketing data points were aplenty this week, and here are eight that particularly grabbed our attention.

1. Pokemon still goes There’s been a bit of a mystery around how many people are still using Pokemon Go, the mobile game that attracted hundreds of millions of downloads last summer. Well, today, Niantic, the company behind the app, revealed Pokemon Go has more than 65 million monthly users. So, as many industry observers have guessed, it has slowed down considerably, but the game—which drives foot traffic like crazy to specific locations—is still an attractive ad buy for retailers.

2. Not exactly snappy About 51 percent of American Snapchat users don’t engage with the platform’s branded filters or lenses, a March 2017 study by JPMorgan Chase concluded, per eMarketer. Additionally, 73 percent don’t swipe up (which is the equivalent to a click-through in Snapchat vernacular), the financial brand revealed, while 68 percent never watch video ads.

3. App-install results are good, though Other marketers are reporting more positive returns from Snapchat, which rolled out app-install targeting features for advertisers earlier this week. For instance, David Rose,who has tested the app’s new tools as director of performance marketing at Pocket Gems, said he has seen a 1 percent swipe-up rate. “Given the high levels of engagement we’re seeing,” he said, “the results are strong enough to increase our app-install budget for Snapchat.”

4. Pepsi fiasco As the whole world now knows, Pepsi released a much-hated, two-and-a-half minute spot—featuring Kendall Jenner, protesters and a message of unity via soda—at the beginning of the week. It has since pulled the ad.

According to data from Amobee Brand Intelligence, digital content engagement around Pepsi increased 366 percent in just one day. And while 43 percent mentioned Black Lives Matter, 31 percent labeled the ad as “tone-deaf” and 10 percent tagged it as the “worst ever.” Amobee also looked at content engagement around the term “tone-deaf” in the last day, and 77 percent of digital content using the term mentioned Kendall Jenner and Pepsi.

Read a full breakdown of what went wrong with the ad in this excellent report by Adweek staff writer Kristina Monllos.

5. Where niches are found When Twitter acquired influencer network Niche in 2015, it had around 6,000 creators. Now, more than 45,000 creators employ the four-year-old platform to connect with brands.

7. Social neighbors Nextdoor, a social network with tens of millions of users, told Adweek today it has an online community for 70 percent of U.S. neighborhoods. “We expect to be in 90 percent by end of year,” said Nirav Tolia, co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based company. Nextdoor, for the uninitiated, is a platform that combines the idea of a neighborhood watch message board with the concept of a hyperlocal Craigslist. Look for our exclusive on Tolia’s business early next week.

8. OMG, we are all digital addicts How much do folks love Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat? According to SmartBrief, which published findings from Mediakix, people, on average, will spend five years of their life on social media.